PartyMagier
Smash Rookie
Introduction
We are proud to present the second iteration of the European Project M Power Ranking! A year has passed since the last one, and finally, developments of the European PM landscape are documented for everyone to see. Similarly to last year, many new names popped up in the PR, showcasing Europe's diverse and vibrant competitive scene.
Timeframe
The ranking period picks up right where the last one left of: right after SuperPharm 3, meaning the 6th of August 2018. It concluded with Superbou 3 - the 31st of August - giving us just over a year of tournaments.
Tournaments
The main tournaments we considered where the once which had a lot of players traveling, we consider these the international tournaments of the year:
• Cabin Smash 4
• High Roller
• SuperPharm 4
• Awakening 5
• SuperBou 3
Smaller and/or less international tournaments are of course also being considered, but a player had to be at least at two of the international tournaments to be considered - or at one and have a regular local appearance.
The Panel
Like last year we had a panel of top-players, TOs and other community figures to interpret the placing data of the players at the internationals, the locals and - when necessary and applicable - head-to-head.
This year the panel consisted of:
Cookre
Germany, tournament organizer
PartyMagier
Germany, tournament organizer
Jonsch
Germany, tournament organizer
Lafungo
SMOM, statistician
Trucker Hat
Spain, tournament organizer
Fout NL
Netherlands, top player
With all of that out of the way there is just one thing left to do: Thank Santieur52 for making the sick player slides you can see just below.
Last on this list and first to make use of this year's Top 15 format is Aaron "Linkeiro" Vázquez, from Madrid, Spain.
Linkeiro has been a new face for Europe this year. The Spanish teenager who had been dominating the local scene for years, dropping sets to few players and always hanging in the Top 5 of the country, had never actually traveled to any international tournaments, although that was destined to change.
With a very unique Marth, ironed out through experience and game sense, Linkeiro ditches the technical side of the game to focus on immaculate spacing and resourceful and creative answers to anything.
Taking that and his impressive punish game into account, Linkeiro tends to star in the most exciting sets the old continent has to showcase, often having brutally one sided sets that completely swing the other way around once or twice before the final stock is taken. You never know what to expect from young Madrilenian.
Ranked 3rd in the 2018 national rankings, everybody at Cabin Smash 4 was excited to see how well Linkeiro would perform against the best Europe had to offer. And they were rightfully excited. Linkeiro made quick work of his pool, outperforming his seed and only losing to Poilu, who would later win the tournament. In bracket he faced the second French star, *Zen, who took second place as well. Knocked down to losers and with a clearer path ahead, Linkeiro swiftly made his way into Top 8, knocking Lafungo out with a reverse 3-0 before he got reverse 3-0'd himself by Trucker Hat, dominating the first two games, getting four stocked in the third, and losing in very close games 4 and 5. If there was a way to go out, that was as Linkeiro as it gets.
With 3 good losses and no further international results, sadly Linkeiro misses out on higher places on the list he very realistically could have reached.
The future is uncertain for the youngster, as he juggles his new work environment and his Smash Ultimate career, but him coming back and starting taking names again right away is something the Spanish never count out, and now Europe doesn't either.
Second on the list and also from Madrid, Roberto "Overtriforce" Iglesias steps in to take 14th place this season!
With his trademark veteran Sheik, Over is the first player on this list to appear for a second time on the European Rankings, managing a 10th place last year. Juggling his Melee career with his Project M one, Over still manages to attend most Spanish regional tournaments and enters PM wherever there's a Melee event running it.
Brutally edgeguarding as always and with a cheeky playstyle that changes mid games to exploit his opponent's weaknesses, Over dismantles any player with homework still left to do.
Accustomed to blazing fast frenetic play from his local scene in both games and having years worth of experience on his back, Overtriforce can keep up with anybody, often turning the match into an evolving contest until the very last stock as he figures out the Project M characters he doesn't yet fully understand.
As Trucker Hat switched to the SmashBox, dropping out of the competition for half of the season, Over took the title of best in Spain and carried it all the way to the end, taking a national victory over Trucker Hat and PauldeCap at Red Wolf Spring in March. Over entered few events since Red Wolf Spring, but showed up at the end for one last push at Awakening 5, finishing an impressive 9th place in what could have very well been the most stacked tournament of the year.
Year after year, Overtriforce displays just as strong of a showing, managing to stay on top of the competition at home and throughout Europe. If he's ranked below last year's result, it's not because he got any worse, but rather a signal of how much fiercer the competition has gotten in Europe.
Regardless of circumstance, you can expect Over to keep topping every event he attends to, maintaining his spot as the go-to Sheik player in Europe.
For (un)lucky number 13 we have got Jonathan "Jonsch" Schumann, hailing from Aachen, Germany.
His black or white Marth has the tendency to have very black or white results: His stellar punish game means he rarely drops sets, or even games, he shouldn't. On the flipside since starting to travel (mostly to the Dutch monthly GSO) he has struggled for almost a year for a big upset.
But then in March at his own tournament, High Roller, he beat Trucker Hat en route to a 4th place finish. At the next big tournament of the year, SuperPharm 4, he managed another upset against a star player in Fskin and far outperformed his 18th seed with a 9th place finish.
There is a bit of contrast between these glorious international achievements and his 16th place on the Dutch PR in the not-so-distant past (March '19). Although there are still a bunch of players on the very stacked Dutch PR (6 of Europe's top 15) giving him trouble we can expect him to make a serious push into the upper half in the upcoming season.
Taking 12th place, Sander "Fout NL" Weber is the first dutchman to be featured on this list.
Known for his crazy travel antics and entering the most international tournaments out of any other player this season, Fout NL is no stranger to Project M competition, even while being more inclined towards Melee than the younger mod itself.
When in game, Sander turns the toadstool princess into a double sided threat. Against some players or playstyles he is known for his time-out shenanigans and heavy turnip play, while against others he turns a complete 180 and displays the most aggressive play the continent has seen, forcefully taking more and more stage control and leaving very little room for his opponents to escape his pressure. Having the ability to flip such a switch gives him an edge in versatility that definitely has caught many players off guard.
With it, Fout has taken sets from the Dutch star, Dom, and had extremely close ones with many other top European players, such as Nicki and Trucker Hat. At SuperBou 3 in Barcelona he easily plowed through the competition on his way to Grand Finals, displaying an incredible level of consistency, before only falling to Nicki, the very first seed of the tournament.
It is only a matter of time before Fout manages to break through and outrun the competition, just like he did in Melee, just like he might be doing in Ultimate as well. If there is anything coursing through Fout NL's veins that can carry him to so many trips and such great tournament attendance, it is a love for these Smash games that very few can even imagine matching.
Swooping in from the northern Dutch hinterlands, Coen "Satan™" van Wieringen claims the 11th spot on the European Power Ranking.
Most widely known for his disciplined Meta Knight with seemingly inescapable punishes at its peak, Satan™ also maintains a plethora of secondary characters such as Fox, Sonic, and Ice Climbers that he isn't afraid to tap into at any time, for better or for worse. Much like the success of his secondary picks, Satan™'s performance can be quite volatile, with frightening highs and devastating lows, which points to what is perhaps his greatest rival: his own mindset.
To his credit, Satan™ often posts his best results at international tournaments, a sign that rightfully shows that he is a European threat. With wins on players like Fskin and Timi at international events, and with Top 3 finishes in every doubles event he's entered this year, it's clear to all that when his head is in the game, there's little that can stop him.
As one of the most well-traveled players in the Netherlands, having to take well over 3 hours of public transit to attend his "local" monthly, and in Europe, having attended 4 of the 5 international tournaments of the season, it seems inevitable that Satan™ will become a major power in European Project M once he overcomes his inner demons.
Rounding out the double digits, Paul "PauldeCap" Saura from Madrid, Spain takes 10th place this season!
The young Madrilenian of barely 16 years of age has burst into this year's ranking, outclassing his local rivals to be this year's second highest ranked Spaniard. Unlike what Europe's used to, PauldeCap plays a more "by the rules" Lucas. Focusing on patient and analytic play, PauldeCap shines on his consistency and ability to battle tournament pressure. Methodically pressuring his opponent and covering their escape routes, PauldeCap delivers precise answers to many problems backing his opponents to self dug graves while their opponents struggle to crack a solid defensive play reinforced by immaculate tech skill.
The European Lucas school of thought has always been more centered around development of the character rather than control of the 2 player struggle, but Paul has managed to find a middle ground between the two styles.
PauldeCap takes the creative play of European Lucases and strips away the wilderness to harness control of a character which deters many with its complexity. Taking advantage of the strongest tools regardless of their difficulty in execution, PauldeCap has formed an overwhelming playstyle that has catapulted him to the top of this season's European competition.
The younger scene in Spain has shaken Europe the most this season.
With strong appearances everywhere on this ranking from a previously wild card-like and lesser known nation, Paul leads the red charge going from struggling for 5th places in Madrilenian locals at the beginning of the season all the way to placing two Top 8s this summer at back to back majors, taking sets off 3 of the 9 players ranked above him and taking *Zen to a thrilling game 5 set at Awakening 5.
Nobody was ready for the PauldeCap storm, not even at home.
Earlier this March, Paul took a clean 3rd place at Red Wolf Spring in Seville, outclassing all Spaniards attending but Overtriforce and Trucker Hat, as well as Lafungo, solidifying himself as a contender for the Spanish national podium. But that was just the beginning.
With no recent remarkable international results, at SuperPharm 4 in the Netherlands Paul faced being seeded 27th overall and last to make it out of his pool.
A mountain and a half in front to climb, Paul got to work and cleanly swept his entire pool, claiming 6th seed off the bat and confidently advancing to bracket, where he 3-1'd Fout NL and dominated Dom in a one-sided 3-0 victory, before being double eliminated by Lafungo and Kazeol to place a strong 5th place.
Finally at Awakening 5, the wonder boy got the short end of the stick, having to play local demon Overtriforce in pools due to a seeding error.
Despite his early roadblock, he was only beaten in bracket by Nicki and *Zen, beating all lower ranked players on his way to cement his 10th place on this ranking and a clean second Top 8 major finish.
One is only left to wonder what the kid will achieve next, as beyond sky there is infinity.
Originating from Boston, USA, and living now in Utrecht, the Netherlands, Europe's very international Jonathan "Lafungo" Toole-Charignon takes 9th place on this year's ranking.
After moving to the Netherlands for his studies a little over a year and a half ago and despite not ever being ranked anywhere in North America, Lafungo has been slowly climbing the Dutch ranks, or as he put it, "he moved from America to the land of the free".
To much dismay of the local Dutch scene, he has been seeing more and more success over time. This season Jonathan's dominated players like Jonsch and Yuyin, taken an edge over Dom and will be up on Ace, completing a positive ratio on the Dutch star duo, once he learns how to recover.
This success has taken him from a first appearance in the Dutch rankings, to joining the Dutch elite and now, joining the European Top 10.
Along his snarky trash talk, calm and cheery nature, Lafungo's choice of character, Ganondorf, and use of it, are part of what make him so unique. Known as the "B Button Master", Lafungo frequently uses Ganon's side and down grounded specials to support Ganon's oppressive nature. Being huge momentum swingers often tied to hard reads for them to work, both moves put a big psychological strain on his opponents when they land, breaking their flow and creating openings further into the match which Lafungo can exploit. This translates to very tense battles of mental attrition and sometimes, salt coming from either contender.
However, Lafungo's prowess is not limited to the singles format. In fact, he shines the most in the doubles format.
Topping every Dutch regional with a different team mate every time, Lafungo always performs well regardless of whether his partner is a better player or worse. This showed where he won GSO18 with Aachen player L0has bearing the name "Aachen representatives", notoriously outplacing the other Aachen team, "Aachen's finest", formed by the two top Aachen players Jonsch and zLewnatic. Teaming with Trucker Hat for the first time as well, his team placed 3rd at Cabin Smash 4 bringing the undefeated team of Poilu and *Zen to a game 5 where Lafungo would at some points handle and push back both European stars at the same time. Back in Germany at High Roller, Lafungo's team with Trucker Hat easily plowed through the bracket, winning the first doubles European major of 2019.
If all of this wasn't enough, the half American, half European player also claims the crown of biggest traveler by a landslide, being the only player to have competed in all four main scenes this year: The Netherlands, Spain, Germany and France. He often visits places like Paris, Aachen, other Dutch cities and has flown multiple times to Spain, once even to carpool through half of the country!
Having lived and competed in so many places, never tied to anywhere, you can't count Lafungo out of anything and will probably find him deep into any tournament, waving the flag of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the nation with no territory.
Dominik "Nicki" Kunze clinches top 8!
Anyone that follows Smash in Europe as a whole and not just Project M is sure to know the German Fox for being one of the best in Melee and this year he has made the leap on the PM Power Rankings as well.
But anyone that thinks Nicki gets by on just his melee fundamentals and mechanics is in for a rude Awakening: not only is he aware enough of the options of all characters to switch from an aggressive rushdown style to slowly choking out his opponents by removing one option after the next once in an advantage state, he also brings a secondary Snake, which he recently promoted from only existing in pools to winning the final game of Superbou 3 against Fout NL's Peach in a dominant 3 stock.
Besides that Superbou 3 victory (beating ~Welp, DNL and Fout NL twice in the process) he had a superb Awakening 5: trading sets with Fskin, bringing their lifetime total to 3-2 and further victories over Fout NL and PauldeCap. While both of these performances were very good some scepticism remained due to the limited number of results, but that just makes watching Nicki in the upcoming season even more interesting.
We can expect to see Nicki continue to perform at any tournament that features both Melee and Project M, often playing late into the night for one game when pools for the other start early in the morning. Though it hasn't happened yet he has expressed interest in going to a PM exclusive tournament and now that he has a rank we can only hope that he is looking to prove and defend it.
The first (and only) new French player this year, Léo "Kazeol" Renardat premieres on the European Power Ranking at 7th place.
Unlike most Fox mains, Kazeol is not a Melee player who views Project M as a side gig. Instead, he is first and foremost dedicated to his favorite Brawl mod, and it shows in his results. Opting for a measured and methodical approach to the space animals, Kazeol makes full use of his experience with the game and knowledge of esoteric matchups to navigate sets against characters first seen in Brawl. His success in this regard is apparent from his results against the likes of Trucker Hat and Fskin, both of whom play characters keen to trap the unwitting spacie in lethal pitfalls.
Very active at local Parisian tournaments in the first months of the season, Kazeol had little choice later on as Poilu and Curry, the only French TOs of the season, moved to Montreal in February. Left with no tournaments to attend locally, he turned his attention to the booming Ultimate community and started to attend their locals instead, even traveling to Albion 4 in London and appearing at the frontline of the mob that swarmed Glutonny to celebrate his win.
Kazeol didn't forget Project M though, and with international tournaments being held within a few hours' radius of Paris, he seized the opportunity and showed the rest of Europe that he hasn't lost his touch. Already known to be a strong contender in previous years, but never having achieved proper international success, Kazeol was finally able to prove the naysayers wrong first at Cabin Smash 4, by beating Fskin in pools, before beating Trucker Hat, Jonsch, and Satan™ en route to 2nd place at High Roller. He later topped off his season with a 4th place at SuperPharm 4 with wins over Knullebibs, Satan™, and finally PauldeCap before falling to Dom in a 5-game set.
With seemingly reinvigorated interest for Project M in Paris and a first tournament outside of Poilu and Curry's apartment since April 2018, there is a good chance that Kazeol will be able to compete locally again, which can only serve to make him even more of a European threat than he already is.
Consistent as always, the long-time king of Dutch Project M, Aaron "Ace" Cromer, clocks in at 6th in Europe, only one spot lower than last year.
While his primary character of choice remains his trusty Wario, Ace has gradually left his secondary Ganondorf behind in favor of a faster and more explosive Wolf. Already boasting a main that is the most effective gatekeeper in the Netherlands (and one of the best in Europe), this secondary switch has allowed him to gain an edge in the few matchups capable of exploiting his Wario's weaknesses.
In fact, Ace's choice to pick up Wolf is largely due to a single player: Dom. Their rivalry has quickly become a staple of Dutch locals, with most monthlies in the season featuring a bracket reset in Grand Finals by one over the other. This back-and-forth is in stark contrast to Ace's record against the rest of his local scene, to whom he has only lost two sets in an entire year. His ridiculous consistency also extends to international tournaments: between the two he attended, Cabin Smash 4 and SuperPharm 4, his only losses were to Smash_Falco3, Dom, and Fskin (twice).
With increasing polish to his Wolf and continued work with his Wario, Ace should be able to fit in the final piece of the puzzle to rise even higher in the ranking: winning head-to-heads against other top European players.
There has been no circumcision of the PR, as Europe is happy to see its beloved Fskin again for another year, this time in 5th place, cementing his ever solid placement in the top echelon.
The Squirtle specialist from Mannheim, Germany, has become a renowned competitor in the European Project M landscape over the past years - being a top 8 regular - proving time and time again that he is a force to be reckoned with. With commendable tournament attendance both national and international, Fskin had plenty of opportunities to show off his trademark German-engineered Squirtle, sporting a patient battle-of-attrition style consisting of movement-heavy neutral game and surefire punishes. During these travels, he managed to build up a formidable track record, netting wins over the likes of Trucker Hat, Dom, Ace, and last but not least also Nicki, with whom a national rivalry over who is Germany's PM top dog seems to be forming.
Fskin has established himself as one of Europe's high rollers for a while now. With so many arcs arising, be it the fresh and new landscape of the EU PM PR featuring many new faces or his tied head-to-head record against national runner up Nicki, the European scene is eager to see whether Fskin can make a stand. Either way, his path in European PM is sure to be continued!
Keeping the Lucario quota steady: Lennard "Dom" Dormans in 4th.
The past year has been one of steady improvement for the Dutchman: early in the year Ace was still the undisputed King of the Netherlands, however bit by bit Dom has started to challenge that. First he became the person most likely to lose Grand Finals to Ace, then he won his first GSO (since GSO6 in the summer of '17) at GSO 16, before finally finishing the season by neatly splitting up all domestic tournaments between himself and Ace and dominating the H2H 8-4.
With the birth of a new scene in Aachen, Dom has leveraged his proximity to the border in Beek to tuck even more wins under his belt with multiple tournament wins at the monthly and occasionally showing up to destroy all opposition at the weekly as well. But without a doubt his greatest win this year has been his tremendous victory at SPS 4: Beating Knullebibs, Jules, Ace, Miniboulet, Lafungo and both Fskin and Kazeol twice to take the entire event.
As SPS4 was his only international tournament this year, none of his demons are from abroad (except PauldeCap, his only loss at SPS4), instead it is many of his fellow locals which are threatening his position on the PR: Sluggard, Fout NL, Lafungo, JMYL and Mickey Blue can all boast being even or up in the H2H. The vast majority of these wins come from playing Dom in Winner's bracket - once in Loser's he often unlocks hidden energies.
But maybe in the future his Marth - which he has taken to co-maining, as is fashionable amongst Lucarios these days - will help him avoid dropping even the first set and dominate the competition from Winner's side.
Whether it is his Marth or his Lucario, Dom is definitely still hungry for the Dutch crown and we can only hope that tournaments in the next season line up better with his personal schedule so that we can see more international players take a shot at Dom.
The last year was a transitional period for Antonio "Trucker Hat" Oliva. First, he announced that, after successfully running Spain's first international tournament in years (Lighthouse), he would be easing off from TO duties to better focus on being a competitor. Second, he switched from playing with the traditional GameCube controller to the more ergonomic Smashbox. Reading this, it would be easy and forgivable to assume that Trucker Hat had a quiet and uneventful year. However, it would also be quite wrong to do so, not only because Trucker Hat is the antithesis of "quiet and uneventful", but also because his play has reached new heights and he has cemented himself as one of the strongest contenders for the European crown, landing on the first step of this year's podium.
Although he did have some inevitable issues in switching controllers, they were largely confined to local tournaments and did not stop him from continuing to compete at the highest level of European Project M. While he was still ironing out his Smashbox play back at home in Madrid, he would return to the GameCube controller when facing international opposition. Despite this back-and-forth between controllers, he was still able to reach 5th at both Cabin Smash 4 and High Roller. While these placings were rock solid (and seemingly inescapable for Trucker Hat), the path to them was rather shaky, as he narrowly beat both Fout NL and Linkeiro in game 5s at Cabin Smash 4 before finally losing one to Jonsch at High Roller.
The real change for Trucker Hat happened during the summer, once he had fully committed to the Smashbox. Released from the shackles of the GameCube controller's layout and finally fulfilling his dream of traveling to the US to compete (at the expense of having to play P+), Trucker Hat returned to European competition ready to prove that he was now the best in the continent. Fueled by nothing but passion for the game and energy drinks, he obliterated his rivals at Awakening 5, beating Fout NL, Timi, Smash_Falco3, and *Zen (twice!) with a combined total of two games dropped before taking Dirtboy to game 5 in Grand Finals.
It is almost unfortunate for Trucker Hat that the ranking period ended so shortly afterwards, as it is apparent that he views the European throne as rightfully his. Time will tell if this vision becomes reality, but one thing is for certain: he's shown there's more to Lucas than just dair to up-smash.
Similarly to last year, two French players cap the 2019's rankings. However, unlike last year's two Parisians, this time the electric Benjamin "Smash_Falco3" Ohayon is representing Northern France from the city of Lille, taking 2nd place in this year's ranking.
With a cheeky tag and an explosive playstyle to back it up, S_F3 wields Ike's huge sword like no other.
Prone to upsetting downs and heroic ups, it's not rare to watch S_F3 bounce back from heartbreaking SDs to completely obliterate their opponents the very next game. So much so, that S_F3 gave birth to one of the most interesting challenges an EUPM player can try to accomplish:
“If beating S_F3 is not hard enough already, try not to get four stocked in the process.”
As funny as it sounds and acting as a final boss of sorts, the silly challenge has actually stood the test of time for the entire year, as S_F3 four stocked many of his opponents in the very few sets he lost since summer 2018, including Trucker Hat and *Zen.
Closing the year losing to *Zen and Trucker Hat after dominating Fskin all year long and in the tournament, Europe sadly missed the chance to watch the Squirtle slayer face the invading threat of Dirtboy at Awakening 5; however, if there's a reason why S_F3 edged Trucker for number 2, it is consistency.
Despite his modest ranking of 9th last year behind 3 French players, he quickly got to work and became the 3rd best player in France, taking sets off Poilu and *Zen, the latter of which was a feat only Poilu had achieved in over three years of the Charizard master's reign. Europe was stunned when he came into Cabin Smash 4 full force, upsetting Fskin, Trucker Hat and Ace, securing the traditional French podium Europe had grown accustomed to. But that was not all, at High Roller, he proved he was not to be toyed with, as he not only avoided the upset fest that knocked out Fskin and Trucker Hat early, but also won the entire thing uncontested from Winners, cementing himself as the king of Europe in the absence of the other two French titans.
With a flawless year that saw him only lose sets to *Zen and Trucker Hat, he's been the fastest improving player between summers, climbing 7 places from last year's ranking and closely threatening the number 1 position.
Finally, for the number one spot we'd like to congratulate the previous year's runner-up, Yannis "*Zen" Samba.
Despite battling rust and new threats, the veteran Charizard master has kept his mojo and secured an indisputable first place.
"Optimal gfycat" was a term coined by last year's European #1, Poilu, to describe *Zen's playstyle and since then has been adopted by many in the community as they got rolled by the flashy and resourceful lizard. *Zen makes the most of Zard's tools and strengths, hitting aerials where no one expects them, always finding a creative way to outplay their opponent and performing impressive tech showcases while covering all of his victims' options.
When *Zen's on-point, you can not even hope for an execution error to gift you a stock as a handicap, he's just a magician at work.
*Zen has left France only twice this year to compete, taking a more relaxed approach since his long-time rival and training partner, Poilu, left for Canada in March along with part of his competitive flame.
As such, he's shown rust and weakness where earlier years had only shown perfection, which the European competition has taken plenty of advantage of whenever possible, taking him to nail-biting game fives on multiple occasions at Awakening 5.
However, he was this year's favourite for a reason, and he's only lost 3 sets to continental contenders, managing the best results of any on this list.
With a dominant showing at Cabin Smash 4 and French locals losing only to Poilu since S_F3 beat him last September, he clutched out all sets he played at Awakening 5 despite being knocked to losers early by a seventh seed Trucker, meeting him in losers after cleanly beating S_F3, only dropping a game to his usual four stock antics.
Him not appearing in Grand Finals at the German tournament left Europe speechless, for a titan had finally fallen to the realm of the living.
In a much more contested season, *Zen has inherited the crown the year the fiercest competition has stormed Europe, knocking at his door to claim the golden throne. Last year's eight and ninth place have both outran the middle of the leaderboards and managed to take sets off our previously uncontested king.
With Poilu gone and competition at all skill levels reaching new levels, *Zen surely will have to pick up his pace and try like no other time to keep up with these youngsters that grew up inspired by his play, for a student must surpass their master, and a master must never reveal all his tricks.
We are proud to present the second iteration of the European Project M Power Ranking! A year has passed since the last one, and finally, developments of the European PM landscape are documented for everyone to see. Similarly to last year, many new names popped up in the PR, showcasing Europe's diverse and vibrant competitive scene.
Timeframe
The ranking period picks up right where the last one left of: right after SuperPharm 3, meaning the 6th of August 2018. It concluded with Superbou 3 - the 31st of August - giving us just over a year of tournaments.
Tournaments
The main tournaments we considered where the once which had a lot of players traveling, we consider these the international tournaments of the year:
• Cabin Smash 4
• High Roller
• SuperPharm 4
• Awakening 5
• SuperBou 3
Smaller and/or less international tournaments are of course also being considered, but a player had to be at least at two of the international tournaments to be considered - or at one and have a regular local appearance.
The Panel
Like last year we had a panel of top-players, TOs and other community figures to interpret the placing data of the players at the internationals, the locals and - when necessary and applicable - head-to-head.
This year the panel consisted of:
Cookre
Germany, tournament organizer
PartyMagier
Germany, tournament organizer
Jonsch
Germany, tournament organizer
Lafungo
SMOM, statistician
Trucker Hat
Spain, tournament organizer
Fout NL
Netherlands, top player
With all of that out of the way there is just one thing left to do: Thank Santieur52 for making the sick player slides you can see just below.
Last on this list and first to make use of this year's Top 15 format is Aaron "Linkeiro" Vázquez, from Madrid, Spain.
Linkeiro has been a new face for Europe this year. The Spanish teenager who had been dominating the local scene for years, dropping sets to few players and always hanging in the Top 5 of the country, had never actually traveled to any international tournaments, although that was destined to change.
With a very unique Marth, ironed out through experience and game sense, Linkeiro ditches the technical side of the game to focus on immaculate spacing and resourceful and creative answers to anything.
Taking that and his impressive punish game into account, Linkeiro tends to star in the most exciting sets the old continent has to showcase, often having brutally one sided sets that completely swing the other way around once or twice before the final stock is taken. You never know what to expect from young Madrilenian.
Ranked 3rd in the 2018 national rankings, everybody at Cabin Smash 4 was excited to see how well Linkeiro would perform against the best Europe had to offer. And they were rightfully excited. Linkeiro made quick work of his pool, outperforming his seed and only losing to Poilu, who would later win the tournament. In bracket he faced the second French star, *Zen, who took second place as well. Knocked down to losers and with a clearer path ahead, Linkeiro swiftly made his way into Top 8, knocking Lafungo out with a reverse 3-0 before he got reverse 3-0'd himself by Trucker Hat, dominating the first two games, getting four stocked in the third, and losing in very close games 4 and 5. If there was a way to go out, that was as Linkeiro as it gets.
With 3 good losses and no further international results, sadly Linkeiro misses out on higher places on the list he very realistically could have reached.
The future is uncertain for the youngster, as he juggles his new work environment and his Smash Ultimate career, but him coming back and starting taking names again right away is something the Spanish never count out, and now Europe doesn't either.
Second on the list and also from Madrid, Roberto "Overtriforce" Iglesias steps in to take 14th place this season!
With his trademark veteran Sheik, Over is the first player on this list to appear for a second time on the European Rankings, managing a 10th place last year. Juggling his Melee career with his Project M one, Over still manages to attend most Spanish regional tournaments and enters PM wherever there's a Melee event running it.
Brutally edgeguarding as always and with a cheeky playstyle that changes mid games to exploit his opponent's weaknesses, Over dismantles any player with homework still left to do.
Accustomed to blazing fast frenetic play from his local scene in both games and having years worth of experience on his back, Overtriforce can keep up with anybody, often turning the match into an evolving contest until the very last stock as he figures out the Project M characters he doesn't yet fully understand.
As Trucker Hat switched to the SmashBox, dropping out of the competition for half of the season, Over took the title of best in Spain and carried it all the way to the end, taking a national victory over Trucker Hat and PauldeCap at Red Wolf Spring in March. Over entered few events since Red Wolf Spring, but showed up at the end for one last push at Awakening 5, finishing an impressive 9th place in what could have very well been the most stacked tournament of the year.
Year after year, Overtriforce displays just as strong of a showing, managing to stay on top of the competition at home and throughout Europe. If he's ranked below last year's result, it's not because he got any worse, but rather a signal of how much fiercer the competition has gotten in Europe.
Regardless of circumstance, you can expect Over to keep topping every event he attends to, maintaining his spot as the go-to Sheik player in Europe.
For (un)lucky number 13 we have got Jonathan "Jonsch" Schumann, hailing from Aachen, Germany.
His black or white Marth has the tendency to have very black or white results: His stellar punish game means he rarely drops sets, or even games, he shouldn't. On the flipside since starting to travel (mostly to the Dutch monthly GSO) he has struggled for almost a year for a big upset.
But then in March at his own tournament, High Roller, he beat Trucker Hat en route to a 4th place finish. At the next big tournament of the year, SuperPharm 4, he managed another upset against a star player in Fskin and far outperformed his 18th seed with a 9th place finish.
There is a bit of contrast between these glorious international achievements and his 16th place on the Dutch PR in the not-so-distant past (March '19). Although there are still a bunch of players on the very stacked Dutch PR (6 of Europe's top 15) giving him trouble we can expect him to make a serious push into the upper half in the upcoming season.
Taking 12th place, Sander "Fout NL" Weber is the first dutchman to be featured on this list.
Known for his crazy travel antics and entering the most international tournaments out of any other player this season, Fout NL is no stranger to Project M competition, even while being more inclined towards Melee than the younger mod itself.
When in game, Sander turns the toadstool princess into a double sided threat. Against some players or playstyles he is known for his time-out shenanigans and heavy turnip play, while against others he turns a complete 180 and displays the most aggressive play the continent has seen, forcefully taking more and more stage control and leaving very little room for his opponents to escape his pressure. Having the ability to flip such a switch gives him an edge in versatility that definitely has caught many players off guard.
With it, Fout has taken sets from the Dutch star, Dom, and had extremely close ones with many other top European players, such as Nicki and Trucker Hat. At SuperBou 3 in Barcelona he easily plowed through the competition on his way to Grand Finals, displaying an incredible level of consistency, before only falling to Nicki, the very first seed of the tournament.
It is only a matter of time before Fout manages to break through and outrun the competition, just like he did in Melee, just like he might be doing in Ultimate as well. If there is anything coursing through Fout NL's veins that can carry him to so many trips and such great tournament attendance, it is a love for these Smash games that very few can even imagine matching.
Swooping in from the northern Dutch hinterlands, Coen "Satan™" van Wieringen claims the 11th spot on the European Power Ranking.
Most widely known for his disciplined Meta Knight with seemingly inescapable punishes at its peak, Satan™ also maintains a plethora of secondary characters such as Fox, Sonic, and Ice Climbers that he isn't afraid to tap into at any time, for better or for worse. Much like the success of his secondary picks, Satan™'s performance can be quite volatile, with frightening highs and devastating lows, which points to what is perhaps his greatest rival: his own mindset.
To his credit, Satan™ often posts his best results at international tournaments, a sign that rightfully shows that he is a European threat. With wins on players like Fskin and Timi at international events, and with Top 3 finishes in every doubles event he's entered this year, it's clear to all that when his head is in the game, there's little that can stop him.
As one of the most well-traveled players in the Netherlands, having to take well over 3 hours of public transit to attend his "local" monthly, and in Europe, having attended 4 of the 5 international tournaments of the season, it seems inevitable that Satan™ will become a major power in European Project M once he overcomes his inner demons.
Rounding out the double digits, Paul "PauldeCap" Saura from Madrid, Spain takes 10th place this season!
The young Madrilenian of barely 16 years of age has burst into this year's ranking, outclassing his local rivals to be this year's second highest ranked Spaniard. Unlike what Europe's used to, PauldeCap plays a more "by the rules" Lucas. Focusing on patient and analytic play, PauldeCap shines on his consistency and ability to battle tournament pressure. Methodically pressuring his opponent and covering their escape routes, PauldeCap delivers precise answers to many problems backing his opponents to self dug graves while their opponents struggle to crack a solid defensive play reinforced by immaculate tech skill.
The European Lucas school of thought has always been more centered around development of the character rather than control of the 2 player struggle, but Paul has managed to find a middle ground between the two styles.
PauldeCap takes the creative play of European Lucases and strips away the wilderness to harness control of a character which deters many with its complexity. Taking advantage of the strongest tools regardless of their difficulty in execution, PauldeCap has formed an overwhelming playstyle that has catapulted him to the top of this season's European competition.
The younger scene in Spain has shaken Europe the most this season.
With strong appearances everywhere on this ranking from a previously wild card-like and lesser known nation, Paul leads the red charge going from struggling for 5th places in Madrilenian locals at the beginning of the season all the way to placing two Top 8s this summer at back to back majors, taking sets off 3 of the 9 players ranked above him and taking *Zen to a thrilling game 5 set at Awakening 5.
Nobody was ready for the PauldeCap storm, not even at home.
Earlier this March, Paul took a clean 3rd place at Red Wolf Spring in Seville, outclassing all Spaniards attending but Overtriforce and Trucker Hat, as well as Lafungo, solidifying himself as a contender for the Spanish national podium. But that was just the beginning.
With no recent remarkable international results, at SuperPharm 4 in the Netherlands Paul faced being seeded 27th overall and last to make it out of his pool.
A mountain and a half in front to climb, Paul got to work and cleanly swept his entire pool, claiming 6th seed off the bat and confidently advancing to bracket, where he 3-1'd Fout NL and dominated Dom in a one-sided 3-0 victory, before being double eliminated by Lafungo and Kazeol to place a strong 5th place.
Finally at Awakening 5, the wonder boy got the short end of the stick, having to play local demon Overtriforce in pools due to a seeding error.
Despite his early roadblock, he was only beaten in bracket by Nicki and *Zen, beating all lower ranked players on his way to cement his 10th place on this ranking and a clean second Top 8 major finish.
One is only left to wonder what the kid will achieve next, as beyond sky there is infinity.
Originating from Boston, USA, and living now in Utrecht, the Netherlands, Europe's very international Jonathan "Lafungo" Toole-Charignon takes 9th place on this year's ranking.
After moving to the Netherlands for his studies a little over a year and a half ago and despite not ever being ranked anywhere in North America, Lafungo has been slowly climbing the Dutch ranks, or as he put it, "he moved from America to the land of the free".
To much dismay of the local Dutch scene, he has been seeing more and more success over time. This season Jonathan's dominated players like Jonsch and Yuyin, taken an edge over Dom and will be up on Ace, completing a positive ratio on the Dutch star duo, once he learns how to recover.
This success has taken him from a first appearance in the Dutch rankings, to joining the Dutch elite and now, joining the European Top 10.
Along his snarky trash talk, calm and cheery nature, Lafungo's choice of character, Ganondorf, and use of it, are part of what make him so unique. Known as the "B Button Master", Lafungo frequently uses Ganon's side and down grounded specials to support Ganon's oppressive nature. Being huge momentum swingers often tied to hard reads for them to work, both moves put a big psychological strain on his opponents when they land, breaking their flow and creating openings further into the match which Lafungo can exploit. This translates to very tense battles of mental attrition and sometimes, salt coming from either contender.
However, Lafungo's prowess is not limited to the singles format. In fact, he shines the most in the doubles format.
Topping every Dutch regional with a different team mate every time, Lafungo always performs well regardless of whether his partner is a better player or worse. This showed where he won GSO18 with Aachen player L0has bearing the name "Aachen representatives", notoriously outplacing the other Aachen team, "Aachen's finest", formed by the two top Aachen players Jonsch and zLewnatic. Teaming with Trucker Hat for the first time as well, his team placed 3rd at Cabin Smash 4 bringing the undefeated team of Poilu and *Zen to a game 5 where Lafungo would at some points handle and push back both European stars at the same time. Back in Germany at High Roller, Lafungo's team with Trucker Hat easily plowed through the bracket, winning the first doubles European major of 2019.
If all of this wasn't enough, the half American, half European player also claims the crown of biggest traveler by a landslide, being the only player to have competed in all four main scenes this year: The Netherlands, Spain, Germany and France. He often visits places like Paris, Aachen, other Dutch cities and has flown multiple times to Spain, once even to carpool through half of the country!
Having lived and competed in so many places, never tied to anywhere, you can't count Lafungo out of anything and will probably find him deep into any tournament, waving the flag of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the nation with no territory.
Dominik "Nicki" Kunze clinches top 8!
Anyone that follows Smash in Europe as a whole and not just Project M is sure to know the German Fox for being one of the best in Melee and this year he has made the leap on the PM Power Rankings as well.
But anyone that thinks Nicki gets by on just his melee fundamentals and mechanics is in for a rude Awakening: not only is he aware enough of the options of all characters to switch from an aggressive rushdown style to slowly choking out his opponents by removing one option after the next once in an advantage state, he also brings a secondary Snake, which he recently promoted from only existing in pools to winning the final game of Superbou 3 against Fout NL's Peach in a dominant 3 stock.
Besides that Superbou 3 victory (beating ~Welp, DNL and Fout NL twice in the process) he had a superb Awakening 5: trading sets with Fskin, bringing their lifetime total to 3-2 and further victories over Fout NL and PauldeCap. While both of these performances were very good some scepticism remained due to the limited number of results, but that just makes watching Nicki in the upcoming season even more interesting.
We can expect to see Nicki continue to perform at any tournament that features both Melee and Project M, often playing late into the night for one game when pools for the other start early in the morning. Though it hasn't happened yet he has expressed interest in going to a PM exclusive tournament and now that he has a rank we can only hope that he is looking to prove and defend it.
The first (and only) new French player this year, Léo "Kazeol" Renardat premieres on the European Power Ranking at 7th place.
Unlike most Fox mains, Kazeol is not a Melee player who views Project M as a side gig. Instead, he is first and foremost dedicated to his favorite Brawl mod, and it shows in his results. Opting for a measured and methodical approach to the space animals, Kazeol makes full use of his experience with the game and knowledge of esoteric matchups to navigate sets against characters first seen in Brawl. His success in this regard is apparent from his results against the likes of Trucker Hat and Fskin, both of whom play characters keen to trap the unwitting spacie in lethal pitfalls.
Very active at local Parisian tournaments in the first months of the season, Kazeol had little choice later on as Poilu and Curry, the only French TOs of the season, moved to Montreal in February. Left with no tournaments to attend locally, he turned his attention to the booming Ultimate community and started to attend their locals instead, even traveling to Albion 4 in London and appearing at the frontline of the mob that swarmed Glutonny to celebrate his win.
Kazeol didn't forget Project M though, and with international tournaments being held within a few hours' radius of Paris, he seized the opportunity and showed the rest of Europe that he hasn't lost his touch. Already known to be a strong contender in previous years, but never having achieved proper international success, Kazeol was finally able to prove the naysayers wrong first at Cabin Smash 4, by beating Fskin in pools, before beating Trucker Hat, Jonsch, and Satan™ en route to 2nd place at High Roller. He later topped off his season with a 4th place at SuperPharm 4 with wins over Knullebibs, Satan™, and finally PauldeCap before falling to Dom in a 5-game set.
With seemingly reinvigorated interest for Project M in Paris and a first tournament outside of Poilu and Curry's apartment since April 2018, there is a good chance that Kazeol will be able to compete locally again, which can only serve to make him even more of a European threat than he already is.
Consistent as always, the long-time king of Dutch Project M, Aaron "Ace" Cromer, clocks in at 6th in Europe, only one spot lower than last year.
While his primary character of choice remains his trusty Wario, Ace has gradually left his secondary Ganondorf behind in favor of a faster and more explosive Wolf. Already boasting a main that is the most effective gatekeeper in the Netherlands (and one of the best in Europe), this secondary switch has allowed him to gain an edge in the few matchups capable of exploiting his Wario's weaknesses.
In fact, Ace's choice to pick up Wolf is largely due to a single player: Dom. Their rivalry has quickly become a staple of Dutch locals, with most monthlies in the season featuring a bracket reset in Grand Finals by one over the other. This back-and-forth is in stark contrast to Ace's record against the rest of his local scene, to whom he has only lost two sets in an entire year. His ridiculous consistency also extends to international tournaments: between the two he attended, Cabin Smash 4 and SuperPharm 4, his only losses were to Smash_Falco3, Dom, and Fskin (twice).
With increasing polish to his Wolf and continued work with his Wario, Ace should be able to fit in the final piece of the puzzle to rise even higher in the ranking: winning head-to-heads against other top European players.
There has been no circumcision of the PR, as Europe is happy to see its beloved Fskin again for another year, this time in 5th place, cementing his ever solid placement in the top echelon.
The Squirtle specialist from Mannheim, Germany, has become a renowned competitor in the European Project M landscape over the past years - being a top 8 regular - proving time and time again that he is a force to be reckoned with. With commendable tournament attendance both national and international, Fskin had plenty of opportunities to show off his trademark German-engineered Squirtle, sporting a patient battle-of-attrition style consisting of movement-heavy neutral game and surefire punishes. During these travels, he managed to build up a formidable track record, netting wins over the likes of Trucker Hat, Dom, Ace, and last but not least also Nicki, with whom a national rivalry over who is Germany's PM top dog seems to be forming.
Fskin has established himself as one of Europe's high rollers for a while now. With so many arcs arising, be it the fresh and new landscape of the EU PM PR featuring many new faces or his tied head-to-head record against national runner up Nicki, the European scene is eager to see whether Fskin can make a stand. Either way, his path in European PM is sure to be continued!
Keeping the Lucario quota steady: Lennard "Dom" Dormans in 4th.
The past year has been one of steady improvement for the Dutchman: early in the year Ace was still the undisputed King of the Netherlands, however bit by bit Dom has started to challenge that. First he became the person most likely to lose Grand Finals to Ace, then he won his first GSO (since GSO6 in the summer of '17) at GSO 16, before finally finishing the season by neatly splitting up all domestic tournaments between himself and Ace and dominating the H2H 8-4.
With the birth of a new scene in Aachen, Dom has leveraged his proximity to the border in Beek to tuck even more wins under his belt with multiple tournament wins at the monthly and occasionally showing up to destroy all opposition at the weekly as well. But without a doubt his greatest win this year has been his tremendous victory at SPS 4: Beating Knullebibs, Jules, Ace, Miniboulet, Lafungo and both Fskin and Kazeol twice to take the entire event.
As SPS4 was his only international tournament this year, none of his demons are from abroad (except PauldeCap, his only loss at SPS4), instead it is many of his fellow locals which are threatening his position on the PR: Sluggard, Fout NL, Lafungo, JMYL and Mickey Blue can all boast being even or up in the H2H. The vast majority of these wins come from playing Dom in Winner's bracket - once in Loser's he often unlocks hidden energies.
But maybe in the future his Marth - which he has taken to co-maining, as is fashionable amongst Lucarios these days - will help him avoid dropping even the first set and dominate the competition from Winner's side.
Whether it is his Marth or his Lucario, Dom is definitely still hungry for the Dutch crown and we can only hope that tournaments in the next season line up better with his personal schedule so that we can see more international players take a shot at Dom.
The last year was a transitional period for Antonio "Trucker Hat" Oliva. First, he announced that, after successfully running Spain's first international tournament in years (Lighthouse), he would be easing off from TO duties to better focus on being a competitor. Second, he switched from playing with the traditional GameCube controller to the more ergonomic Smashbox. Reading this, it would be easy and forgivable to assume that Trucker Hat had a quiet and uneventful year. However, it would also be quite wrong to do so, not only because Trucker Hat is the antithesis of "quiet and uneventful", but also because his play has reached new heights and he has cemented himself as one of the strongest contenders for the European crown, landing on the first step of this year's podium.
Although he did have some inevitable issues in switching controllers, they were largely confined to local tournaments and did not stop him from continuing to compete at the highest level of European Project M. While he was still ironing out his Smashbox play back at home in Madrid, he would return to the GameCube controller when facing international opposition. Despite this back-and-forth between controllers, he was still able to reach 5th at both Cabin Smash 4 and High Roller. While these placings were rock solid (and seemingly inescapable for Trucker Hat), the path to them was rather shaky, as he narrowly beat both Fout NL and Linkeiro in game 5s at Cabin Smash 4 before finally losing one to Jonsch at High Roller.
The real change for Trucker Hat happened during the summer, once he had fully committed to the Smashbox. Released from the shackles of the GameCube controller's layout and finally fulfilling his dream of traveling to the US to compete (at the expense of having to play P+), Trucker Hat returned to European competition ready to prove that he was now the best in the continent. Fueled by nothing but passion for the game and energy drinks, he obliterated his rivals at Awakening 5, beating Fout NL, Timi, Smash_Falco3, and *Zen (twice!) with a combined total of two games dropped before taking Dirtboy to game 5 in Grand Finals.
It is almost unfortunate for Trucker Hat that the ranking period ended so shortly afterwards, as it is apparent that he views the European throne as rightfully his. Time will tell if this vision becomes reality, but one thing is for certain: he's shown there's more to Lucas than just dair to up-smash.
Similarly to last year, two French players cap the 2019's rankings. However, unlike last year's two Parisians, this time the electric Benjamin "Smash_Falco3" Ohayon is representing Northern France from the city of Lille, taking 2nd place in this year's ranking.
With a cheeky tag and an explosive playstyle to back it up, S_F3 wields Ike's huge sword like no other.
Prone to upsetting downs and heroic ups, it's not rare to watch S_F3 bounce back from heartbreaking SDs to completely obliterate their opponents the very next game. So much so, that S_F3 gave birth to one of the most interesting challenges an EUPM player can try to accomplish:
“If beating S_F3 is not hard enough already, try not to get four stocked in the process.”
As funny as it sounds and acting as a final boss of sorts, the silly challenge has actually stood the test of time for the entire year, as S_F3 four stocked many of his opponents in the very few sets he lost since summer 2018, including Trucker Hat and *Zen.
Closing the year losing to *Zen and Trucker Hat after dominating Fskin all year long and in the tournament, Europe sadly missed the chance to watch the Squirtle slayer face the invading threat of Dirtboy at Awakening 5; however, if there's a reason why S_F3 edged Trucker for number 2, it is consistency.
Despite his modest ranking of 9th last year behind 3 French players, he quickly got to work and became the 3rd best player in France, taking sets off Poilu and *Zen, the latter of which was a feat only Poilu had achieved in over three years of the Charizard master's reign. Europe was stunned when he came into Cabin Smash 4 full force, upsetting Fskin, Trucker Hat and Ace, securing the traditional French podium Europe had grown accustomed to. But that was not all, at High Roller, he proved he was not to be toyed with, as he not only avoided the upset fest that knocked out Fskin and Trucker Hat early, but also won the entire thing uncontested from Winners, cementing himself as the king of Europe in the absence of the other two French titans.
With a flawless year that saw him only lose sets to *Zen and Trucker Hat, he's been the fastest improving player between summers, climbing 7 places from last year's ranking and closely threatening the number 1 position.
Finally, for the number one spot we'd like to congratulate the previous year's runner-up, Yannis "*Zen" Samba.
Despite battling rust and new threats, the veteran Charizard master has kept his mojo and secured an indisputable first place.
"Optimal gfycat" was a term coined by last year's European #1, Poilu, to describe *Zen's playstyle and since then has been adopted by many in the community as they got rolled by the flashy and resourceful lizard. *Zen makes the most of Zard's tools and strengths, hitting aerials where no one expects them, always finding a creative way to outplay their opponent and performing impressive tech showcases while covering all of his victims' options.
When *Zen's on-point, you can not even hope for an execution error to gift you a stock as a handicap, he's just a magician at work.
*Zen has left France only twice this year to compete, taking a more relaxed approach since his long-time rival and training partner, Poilu, left for Canada in March along with part of his competitive flame.
As such, he's shown rust and weakness where earlier years had only shown perfection, which the European competition has taken plenty of advantage of whenever possible, taking him to nail-biting game fives on multiple occasions at Awakening 5.
However, he was this year's favourite for a reason, and he's only lost 3 sets to continental contenders, managing the best results of any on this list.
With a dominant showing at Cabin Smash 4 and French locals losing only to Poilu since S_F3 beat him last September, he clutched out all sets he played at Awakening 5 despite being knocked to losers early by a seventh seed Trucker, meeting him in losers after cleanly beating S_F3, only dropping a game to his usual four stock antics.
Him not appearing in Grand Finals at the German tournament left Europe speechless, for a titan had finally fallen to the realm of the living.
In a much more contested season, *Zen has inherited the crown the year the fiercest competition has stormed Europe, knocking at his door to claim the golden throne. Last year's eight and ninth place have both outran the middle of the leaderboards and managed to take sets off our previously uncontested king.
With Poilu gone and competition at all skill levels reaching new levels, *Zen surely will have to pick up his pace and try like no other time to keep up with these youngsters that grew up inspired by his play, for a student must surpass their master, and a master must never reveal all his tricks.
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